African tech startups are preparing for another wave of investment from Digital Africa in 2025 after a record 29 deals were secured in 2024, according to figures released by the company. Digital Africa is a public-private initiative supporting the continent’s digital ecosystem. The organisation, which aims to “provide the keys to success for African tech entrepreneurs whose ecosystems are less well served,” prioritised 18 countries across the continent in the past year, focusing on addressing five key challenges in regions such as Benin-Togo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
The 2024 investments spanned a range of sectors, including fintech, agritech, edtech, healthtech, mobility, e-commerce, entertainment, and greentech. Companies in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe received funding. Notably, 34 per cent of the funded startups had female founders or co-founders.
Digital Africa’s investment activity was boosted by a strengthened partnership with Orange Ventures, the venture capital arm of Orange Group. Announced at the VivaTech conference last year, the agreement sees Orange Ventures doubling investments made by Digital Africa’s Fuzé programme for startups within the Orange Digital Centers (ODC) network.
The Fuzé programme, a joint initiative, involves a collaborative review process, with Orange Ventures matching Fuzé’s investments, effectively doubling the funding available to selected companies. The ODCs provide a comprehensive ecosystem for entrepreneurs in 17 African and Middle Eastern countries, as well as eight European nations, offering free programmes ranging from digital skills training to start-up incubation and acceleration.
In its first year, Fuzé awarded up to €50,000 each to five startups from Cameroon (Clinihome, Koree, Colorfol) and Senegal (Tolbi, Proboutik). The additional funding from the strengthened partnership is expected to accelerate their growth.
Grégoire de Padirac, CEO of Digital Africa, highlighted the shared vision of supporting African entrepreneurs from the earliest stages with “comprehensive financing and support services.”
Fuzé typically invests up to $100,000 in seed-stage companies. The programme has played a significant role in improving funding access for startups in Francophone Africa. With support from Proparco, a French development finance institution, Fuzé aims to create opportunities, facilitate funding, and increase visibility for start-ups developing technological solutions for Africa’s economic landscape.
Digital Africa also runs other initiatives, including Bridge and Talents 4 Startups. The latter, which received over 10,300 applications, trained 294 students in its pilot phase and plans to offer 1,000 scholarships across Africa in its next edition.
With an investment envelope of €6.5m, Fuzé provides seed funding and follow-on investments, addressing startups’ financial needs from inception and supporting their continued growth.
Notable, Digital Africa participated in recent investment round in Moroccan-French mobility startup Enakl in which the startup secured $1.4 million in pre-seed funding last December.
The 2024 figures and the strengthened partnership Digital Africa has made with Orange Ventures suggest a positive outlook for African tech startups seeking funding in 2025.